Signal device.



PATENTED JUNE 28, 1904.-

J. -J.' FULLER. SIGNAL DEVICE.

APPLIUATION FILED APB-'13. 1903.

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PATENTED JUNE 28, 1904.

J. J; FULLER. SIGNAL DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 13 1903.

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UNITED, STATES Patented June 28, 1904.

. PATENT OFFICE.

SIGNAL DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 763,603, dated June 28, 1904.

Application filed April 13,1903. Serial No. 152,290. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN J. FULLER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Westfield, in the county of Hampden and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Signal Device, of which the following is a specification. Y

My invention relates to lmprovements in devices used for signaling purposes in which tention of the observer various items of more or less 1nterestsuch as restaurant bills of fare, express calls, advertisements, &c.in fact, the variety of uses to which this device may be applied is almost without limit; secend, to furnish a device of this kind with movable leaves which are adapted to have printed matterimpressed or imposed thereon and when the leaves are extended to present such matter to the best advantage; third, to afford positive means for changing the positions' of the leaves; fourth, to produce a signal device which is neat and compact and may be suspended or supported without difficulty in any accessible place, and, fifth, to provide durable, simple, and comparatively inexpensive means and mechanism for carrying out the above-mentionedobjects and obtaining the desired results and advantages. 1 attain these objects by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front view of my device, three of the leaves being extended; Fig. 2, a view of the right-hand side of the device shown in Fig. 1, except that the leaf-operating mechanism is omitted, the studs only being shown orsuch portions of them as project beyond the face of the support or case; Fig. 3, a fullsize front View of one of the leaf-studs; Fig.

4, a full-size bottom view of one of the crankarms; Fig. 5, a full-size edge view of a part of one of the leaves and associated operating mechanism, illustrating the relative positions of the several connected members as they appear when the leaf is closed; Fig. 6, a front view of the same; Fig. 7, a full-size end view of a leaf and edge view of the mechanism as they appear when the leaf is extended or open, and Fig. 8 a front view of the same. The last four figures are drawn without regard to the angular positions occupied by the leaves and their operating mechanism relative to the front face of the support or case, which face is indicated, however, by lines as 00 in Figs. 5 and 7.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

By preference athree-sided case A is used to hold a plurality of swinging arms or leaves B, said case being open at one side, as best shown in Fig. 2, except where it is closed by substantially triangular shaped pieces a a, which with the corresponding edges of said leaves when all are closed entirely fill this side. The front a of the case, which is the essential and immediate support for the leaves B, is so cut away on the inside as to permit said leaves to lie in the case when folded or closed at an angle with the outside face of said front or support, which arrangement permits of a greater degree of compactness than would be possible by any other, space-economy in both length and depth being thus secured. Studs 6 project from the front of the leaves B at their inner ends and extend through suitable openings in the front (4. These studs serve both as pivots for the leaves and as mediums for operating them. When the leaves are closed, their adja cent faces are in contact with each other, and.

when open or extended the faces or sides of each leaf, crosswise or transverselyconsidered, maintain the same angles relative to the front face of the case as said sides, lengthwise or longitudinally considered, did before the leaf was opened. It is understood, of course, that printed matter is to be pasted, stamped, or otherwise impressed or imposed on one or both sides of the leaves B, and the slant of the leaves when extended, as just described, enhances the ease with which matter on the front surfaces thereof may be read, particularly if the device is placed at some elevation.

I am aware that various means may be employed for opening or extending the leaves, holding them in that position, and closing the same, operative either immediately in connection with the device or at some point remote therefrom; but for ordinary purposes and as a direct means of operating the leaves I have found the mechanism described below to be practicable and adequate in every particular. I prefer to provide each stud b with a flange b, which is secured to the inner end of a leaf B by means of screws or in any other suitable manner. In the top of the stud Z) is a screwthreaded opening 6', flanked by parallel slots 6'. Each of the crank-arms 0, which are used to rotate the studs 6, and thus operate the leaves, is provided with an elongated central opening 0 and with rearwardly extending wings c 0', one each side of said opening, said wings being adapted to enter the slot 6' in the stud b. A screw (Z passes through the opening 0 into the opening Z) and securely holds the crank-arm c to the stud, the wings c preventing independent movement between these two members. A washer e is generally interposed between the screw and the crankarm 0. Each crank arm 0 is operated by means of a lever f, pivoted at g to the front a, and a link h, pivoted at Z to said lever and at j to said crank-arm. The free end or terminal of the lever f is brought forward, so that it will clear the screw d when said lever is thrown over and is provided with a handle 70. Alug Z, extending over the lower edge of the lever f when said lever stands in its normal position, as best shown in Fig. 6, is so positioned as to encounter the left-hand edge of the link 7L when the positions of the parts are changed, so as to open the leaf wide, as best shown in Fig. 8, and thus check further movement.

In operation when it is desired to open any one of the leaves the handle 1%, which corresponds with said leaf, is grasped, the lever f is rotated on its pivot g and imparts about a quarter-turn to the associated stud 5, through the medium of the crank-arm c and the link Zn, and the selected leaf is elevated into a position at right angles with the side of the case. In throwing the lever f over in the manner just described the lug Z does not encounter the link it and check the movement until the pivotal point j has passed to the right of a vertical line passing through the pivotal point g, and the three points g, z', and f are in the same straight line. Thus the leaf just opened is locked in position. In order to close the leaf or return its projecting portion to the interior of the case, it is simply necessary to grasp the handle it and reverse the lever f, or move it to the left and downward until it occupies its former position, when what was the lower edge of the leaf will be in contact with the interior of the left side of the case, such contact checking further movement of leaf and mechanism in the reverse direction.

In place of the lugs Z it is quite obvious that pins may be inserted in the front a at the right of the leaf-operating mechanism and so positioned as to receive the levers f when they are thrown over to extend the leaves, one such pin being shown at Z in Fig. 1, and still other means may be employed for limiting the movement of the parts in the direction of opening.

The case A may be provided with trunnions m m at the top and bottom, so that the same can be journaled in brackets 12. 12., secured to a wall or other suitable support. By providing one or both brackets on with set-screws 0 the device can be rotatably adjusted into position and there held in place. Instead of using bracket-supports the device may be mounted upon a pedestal or fixed in position by any one of various other means.

Ten leaves are shown in the drawings; but it is obvious that more or less may be employed. Furthermore, the case can be left open at the left-hand instead of the right-hand side and the leaves arranged to emerge therefrom, in which event the leaf-operating mechanism must of course be reversed or both sides of the case can be left open and the device so arranged that the leaves may be extended in both directions.

What I seek to cover, broadly, is a support having movable leaves attached thereto, so that their sides always stand at an angle to the face thereof regardless of the means employed for operating such leaves, also the specific leaf-operating mechanism hereinbefore described, it being understood that various changes of minor importance may be made therein without departing from the nature of my invention.

What I claim as my invention, and secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a signal device, a case having a supporting front member and a plurality of swinging leaves, each mounted at one end on said member and all of said leaves having their upper edges in a common vertical plane and each of said leaves being at an angle to said plane.

2. In a signal device, a suitable support and a plurality of swinging leaves, each mounted at one end on said support, said leaveshaving their upper edges in a substantially common vertical plane and arranged at an angle to said plane.

3. In a signal device, a case, leaves pivotally mounted in a substantially vertical line in said case, one above the other, and arranged to close down upon each other in angular direction to the support, the case having less depth than the combined thickness of the leaves therein, substantially as shown.

4:. A signal apparatus comprising a suitable support, a plurality of signal-leaves pivotally desire to mounted at one end upon said support close to and in line with each other and arranged at an angle thereto whereby they may all be opened and displayed at the same time if desired, and lie against each other at an angle pitching toward the support when closed, substantially as shown.

5. The combination, in a signal device, with a supporting member provided with a swinging leaf which in turn is provided with a stud projecting from one end thereof through said member, of a crank-arm fast on the outer end of said stud, a lever pivoted to the member, and a link pivotally attached to said crankarm and lever.

6. The combination, in a signal device, with a supporting member provided with a swinging leaf which in turn is provided with a stud projecting from one end thereof through said member, of a crank-arm fast on the outer end of said stud, a lever pivoted to the member, a link pivotally attached to said crank-arm and lever, and means to limit the movement of the lever in one direction.

7 The combination, in a signal device, with a case provided with a plurality of swinging leaves which in turn are each provided with a stud projecting from one end thereof through the front of said case, of a crank-arm fast on the outer end of each stud, a lever pivoted to said ease-front, and a link pivotally attached to said crank-arm and lever.

8. The combination, in a signal device, with a case provided with a plurality of swinging leaves which in turn are each provided with a stud projecting from one end thereof through the front of said case, of a crank-arm fast on the outer end of each stud, a lever pivoted to said case-front, a link pivotally attached to said crank-arm and lever, and means to limit the movement of the lever in one direction.

9. The combination, in a signal device, with a case provided with a plurality of swinging leaves which in turn are each provided with a stud projecting from one end thereof through the front of said case, of a crank-arm fast on the outer end of each stud, a lever pivoted to said case-front, a link pivotally attached to said crank arm and lever, and a lug on the lever adapted to encounter said link to limit the movement of the parts in one direction.

10. The combination, in a'signal device, of a swinging leaf and an attached stud, a crankarm, means for securing said crank-arm to said stud, comprising in part win g-and-slot connections between the two, and means for actuating the crank-arm.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN J. FULLER. Witnesses:

DEXTER E. TILLEY, FRANK A. CUTTER. 

